Beyond Partnership to Self-Determination
In the nonprofit sector, we use use the term “collaboration” to indicate partnership, but what does it mean to equitably collaborate within a culture of racialized hierarchy?
Collaboration entails deeper trust and relationship-building than transactions. Yet, I’ve seen the term used for relationships ranging from superficial to transformative. The depth is usually evidenced by genuine resource and power sharing.
One key realization: collaboration must begin by acknowledging that colonialism has destroyed authentic relationships across racialized groups. We must understand Indigenous and Black community priorities and resist the patter of well-funded mainstream-led organizations treating these communities paternalistically.
Authentic Collaboration Elements
Are collaborators sharing resources equitably?
Resource distribution reflects priorities. We must ensure partners receive fair compensation, access to necessary resources and long-term support to sustain their work. More importantly: are we redistributing resources from mainstream to marginalized communities, or just maintaining extraction models?
Are decisions driven in true partnership?
Power analysis is essential. Examine collaboration structures—can any party dictate terms more than others? Authentic partnership means front-end input in design and evaluation, not just feedback after decisions.
Is listening to impacted communities prioritized?
Where budgets are tight, resources for historically excluded communities often get cut. We must ask whether project budgets honor the work BIPOC and other marginalized communities contribute and adjust expenses fairly to compensate them.
Toward Self Determination
The term “collaboration” can imply equal footing where none exists. Decolonized practice requires moving beyond collaboration to:
Self-determination: Whether communities carry decision rights
Land acknowledgement: Authentic relationships must address colonial dispossession and its implications
Resource redistribution: Moving beyond sharing to actual wealth and power distribution
Parallel insitutions: Building decolonize alternatives to current systems
The question isn’t just about better collaboration. We must recognize that “collaboration” between unequal power dynamics emerges from a colonial context and assumes that centered people determine the relationship terms.
Let’s build relationships based on justice, self-determination and restoration—where relationship means respect, community means shared power and justice mean restoration.
